


Slytherins in Charge

by elvirakitties



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Voldemort Wins, Bad Dumbledore, Dumbledore Bashing, F/M, Good Slytherins, Hermione Granger Bashing, M/M, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Other, Sane Voldemort, Weasley Bashing, tag might change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-03-18 09:27:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13678911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elvirakitties/pseuds/elvirakitties
Summary: Ok this is a strange idea, and not sure how I am going to work it, but what if Gryffindor and the light were viewed the same way as Slytherin was viewed in the book and movies?





	1. Chapter 1

Severus bowed, kept his eyes down as he waited for Voldemort to give his orders. He wasn't exactly sure why he was summoned up here but he knew he wasn't going to like it. 

"Severus, we have a problem." Voldemort was holding some parchment. 

The parchment looked like it had been wet at one time and was now dry. He could see a ruffled looking owl. Severus wasn't sure what exactly was going on. "My Lord?" While Voldemort wasn't the psycho that Dumbledore wanted everyone to believe the man to be. Voldemort wasn't anything like Dumbledore, either. The man had brought magic back into Hogwarts, ritual, and holidays were returned. He had strengthened the muggle wards and guidelines.

"It appears that Harry Potter has been offered a position at Dumbledore's new school. The man has been sending him numerous owls. We found a few tracking charms, a compulsion spell, and one of the letters had an obedience like curse on it." Voldemort had wanted to send the letters back to Dumbledore with a few curses on them. He had sent the owls up to the belfry. He wasn't going to let them return to Dumbledore. It was petty but it was better than killing the old fool.

Severus wanted to groan. What was Dumbledore thinking? Sending an owl to Harry Potter. He wondered if the lemon drops had rotted the man's brains finally. Dumbledore was in exile and had established a small school outside of Paris for known light supporters. He wondered what the man was thinking of. Harry had been adopted three months after Dumbledore had dumped him at the Dursley. Dumbledore had retreated the night of the Longbottom family attack. Neville was the sole survivor but the boy barely had any magic. "I see. What has Mr. Potter decided?" He began to plan on what to write to Dumbledore. 

"He made his choice to come to Hogwarts. However, it appears that Dumbledore isn't going to go away. I have acceptance letters from the Weasley family, Percy, Frederick, George, and Ronald. It seems they want to take their places here. I have a Percy, going into his 5th year, Frederick and George, twins who would in their 3rd, and Ronald Weasley, future 1st year, all submitting their magical acceptance into Hogwarts."

"I am not sure if that is possible for the older ones. They declined originally, didn't they?" Severus hadn't been invited to sit down so remained standing. He knew this showed how stressed his Lord was. Normally, he would have indicated for Severus to take a seat by now. 

Severus wondered what Dumbledore was attempting to do. Why send all the school-age Weasleys to Hogwarts now? Is it just because he believed that Harry Potter would be attending? Severus wondered how many attempts Dumbledore made to get in touch with Harry Potter or the Dursley family. 

"They did. I know you have reviewed the charter. Is there a way to decline all of them? Lucius is at the achieves searching for the older children's original denial." Voldemort had sent Lucius to the Ministry to check their records too. He wasn't going to allow Dumbledore to find a way to sneak anyone into Hogwarts. 

Severus thought for a few minutes. He wondered what Dumbledore was trying to accomplish with this move. Dumbledore always had plans. Severus knew that Dumbledore never was going to accept that he lost the war. So why send all the letters now. He smirked. "He is counting on the letters not being reviewed. Minerva used an auto-fill quill to send out the letters and she used the older version of the of the sorting spell to create a muggle-born list. They never reviewed the acceptance letters. They always visited and almost bullied muggle parents into sending their magical children here. So he wouldn't know that we review each letter of acceptance. In the charter, we can deny entry to the older ones because of their original refusal. However, the Weasley's have been attending here for a few generations so we can't deny their youngest son admittance. I think they have a daughter too. Do they have the funds to pay?"

"No. I believe they are the only light family that is applying that needs tuition assistance so we will have to approve the assistance." Voldemort really didn't want anyone from Dumbledore's group in Hogwarts as it would just bring trouble. He knew Dumbledore was looking to create a second war. The man had been pushing the ICW and other magical communities to ban Voldemort. Sadly, for Dumbledore, nothing was working. 

Severus noticed Voldemort looked thoughtful. "My Lord, I am not sure, but it could be his way of finding out if you have Harry Potter. He did place him with his relatives, believing you were vanquished. He might be hoping to gain control over Harry Potter and use him to fulfill that prophecy. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't send numerous letters to the Dursley family. He placed him there for a reason." 

Voldemort didn't respond right away. Finally, Voldemort handed the letters to Severus. "Send Ronald his acceptance, the tuition assistance approval, and the denial for the rest. See if any of the Order members would be willing to provide any information. I know you still write to Minnie and a few others. Do they still believe you are a spy?" 

Severus knew Dumbledore believed he supported him. Dumbledore expected Severus to be his spy. He only heard from Dumbledore once or twice a month. Dumbledore usually wanted to find out what Voldemort was currently doing. Voldemort, Lucius, and he usually composted the letters to Dumbledore. Providing harmless information so that Dumbledore believed Severus was still his spy. "It will be done, my Lord. Dumbledore believed the report I sent to him. He honestly believes that Longbottom is magically stronger. He wants me to work with him." Getting Dumbledore to believe Longbottom had been an easy sell. Severus knew that Dumbledore was counting on Longbottom as being the backup in case anything happened to Harry Potter before Dumbledore decided it was time to send the boys to meet Voldemort.

"Good, let me know if there are any issues. Speak to Lucius regarding the Weasley family. I don't want to have them try and appeal to the Ministry to try and get the rest of them in."

"Yes, my Lord." Severus bowed. He turned to leave and noticed the connecting door to Voldemort's private quarters open and Nicholas entered. "My Prince." 

A tall, dark-haired boy had his head buried in a book. He looked up at Severus' words. The boy had his father's dark hair and height, but he was lanky. He was all arms and legs. Severus knew the boy would grow into those arms and legs. "Afternoon, Severus. I was hoping I would find you here. I have a potion question for you."

"Don't you alway?" Severus grinned at the boy. "Come down to my lab in an hour, I have to take care of a few things for your father first." Severus knew he was looking at a future potion master. The boy loved potions as much as did.

"May we work on the base for the Vampiric Sundose?" Nicholas asked. They had been working on revamping a lot of potions and that was one of them. 

"Yes, I just received new ingredients." Severus was thankful that Voldemort let him have an unlimited budget on his potion research. Voldemort wanted to help creatures which was more than Dumbledore had ever done. 

"Nicholas, let Severus go and take care of my requests. If you two start talking potions nothing will get done." Voldemort gave his son a small smile. "I have something I need to speak to you about." 

Nicholas shrugged his shoulders as if to say I hope you aren't surprised. "My Lord, Little Prince." Severus bowed again and left. Nicholas would tell him what happened later. Severus had been Nicholas guard, friend, confidant, and support since Voldemort took over Hogwarts. 

"Why does he call me Little Prince?" Nicholas asked, again. They stopped counting the number of times he asked. Nicholas hoped his father would get tired of him asking and finally answer him.

"You will find out when you're old enough. Now, come and have tea with me. We have a new student incoming that I believe will be looking for you." Voldemort loved his son. If anyone had ever told him he would a father and love being one ten years ago, he would have cursed them.

"Me?" Nicholas asked, confused, seeing his father's face. "Harry Potter." Nicholas made a face. He knew that meant Dumbledore was up to something. "Dumbledore."

"Exactly." Voldemort summoned an elf.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Nicholas was sitting by himself reading the newest potion book when the compartment door was slammed open. "Oops." A red-haired boy stepped into the compartment. "I guess I don't know my own strength. Excuse me, do you mind? Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all." Nicholas knew the train wasn't full. The only ones to ride the train were children of the Death Eaters, pure-bloods, half-bloods, and all non-first-year muggle-born and any staff that was needed. The muggle-borns first-years got a port-key to Hogwarts with one of the staff. The staff made sure that the muggle-borns' parents were comfortable with everything. He watched the boy take a seat opposite him. 

"I'm Ron by the way! Ron Weasley." Ron held out his hand. 

Nicholas shook his hand as he grinned. Time to have some fun. His father was going to enjoy this memory. "I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Severus had explained to Nicholas that the Weasley family were loyal to Dumbledore. 

"So, it's true! DO you really have the… the…" Ron waved his hand towards Nicholas' face.

"The what?" Nicholas wasn't sure what the boy meant. They knew the stories the light side had created regarding Harry Potter. They were some interesting pieces of fantasy stories. He had read a few of the stories when they had visited other countries. He was thankful they were all in the fiction section. 

"The scar?" Ron leaned a bit forward as if sharing a secret.

"My scar?" Nicholas touched his forehead. Why, oh, the stupid theory Dumbledore had about his scar and the Killing Curse. How Harry Potter survived because of Lily's Potter's love and it left a scar on Harry Potter's head. 

"Wicked!" Awe filled Ron's voice. "What house do you think you will be in?" Ron pulled out a brown bag. He frowned as he placed it away from where he was sitting. 

"Not really sure. I mean they all have their good points and bad." Nicholas knew that sounded like Filius Flitwick. Filius was the one who usually gave the students the lectures on the different houses when he met them as either muggle-borns or half-bloods. "What house are you hoping for?"

"Gryffindor, it's the house my parents. Well, all of my family was in, except for my older brothers. They go to Dumbledore Academy for Wizards and Witches. He is the greatest wizard of our time." Weasley looked like a proud rooster. 

"Dumbledore?" Really, he wondered who was doing Dumbledore's public. They were slacking. Voicing his surprise was a mistake as he now had to listen to twenty minutes of Dumbledore's achievements. The man's goals, ideas, and even some weird stories about the man, including one where Dumbledore was feared by what? Did he just hear that? Nicholas wondered if someone was pranking him. 

"Voldemort is afraid of Dumbledore?" Nicholas knew his face showed his shock. He watched the boy flinch.

"Shhh, you don't say his name." Ron looked around as if expecting someone to jump out. "It's why no one has seen You-Know-Who since that night." 

Nicholas was wondering what was in the water. His father wasn't hiding. He was using his own name and not that lame title the light tried to pass off on him. He knew that Dumbledore had been using whatever was necessary to alienate the UK from the rest of the wizarding world but it wasn't working.

"I just need to avoid Slytherins. There isn't a bad wizard that didn't come from Slytherin. It's full of Death Eaters and dark wizards." 

"Only from Slytherin? No other house?" Nicholas knew he was asking for trouble asking that question. He should have kept his mouth closed as he ended up listening to all the tales from the last war. He was about to pull out his wand when the door to the compartment opened. Sanity arrived.

Draco, with Blaise, Theo, and Pansy entered the compartment. "Nicholas?"

"Meet Ronald Weasley." Nicholas informed them. All of them well aware of the incoming Dumbledore's patsy. His father and the rest of them had been informed of who the Weasley family was and why they were coming.

"You said you're Harry Potter." Ron seemed dumbfounded.

"I was and in a way still am. I mean I am heir Potter but I don't really use the name. I prefer to use the name my father gave me. Nicholas Peverell." His full name was Nicholas Julius Riddle Slytherin Peverell. His father used Tom Marvolo Riddle Slytherin Peverell. 

"Oh, you're the Headmaster's son." Nicholas and his friends watched the tension retreat from the boy's body. The group of friends exchanged a quick smirk. The boy couldn't cover his emotions and they knew his mouth was going to get him into trouble. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

"First years, over here." They all turned and saw the groundskeepers. One was by the carriages getting the older students taken care of. One was by the boats, his name was Bruce. Bruce was collecting the first years. Hogwarts had fifteen different groundskeepers with Bruce being the head groundskeeper. 

"Nicholas, are you taking the boat?" Draco asked as they exited the train. 

"Come on, Nicholas, it will be fun." Pansy linked her arm with his. "You know Otis will want to say hi."

Nicholas smirked. "Ron, why don't you join us in the boat." Nicholas knew the boats weren't used as Dumbledore did. The boats were now just tradition. When his father took over Hogwarts they discovered that Dumbledore had put up wards that recorded the first-years magical signatures. It was illegal. They also found monitoring charms to inform Dumbledore if any students took the dark mark later in their life, also illegal. Everything had been removed by the DoM the summer that Dumbledore left. 

Ron was sitting next to Draco. Ron wasn't happy about it. Nicholas sat down next to Pansy and soon they were off. When they were about halfway across Otis made an appearance. The giant squid came out of the water. One of his tentacles went straight for Nicholas. Nicholas and Otis always played with each other. Draco and Pansy weren't surprised. 

Ron started screaming, scrambling away from the tentacle. Ron stood up, his arms waving around causing him to rock the boat. Splash.

"Nicholas, stop playing with Otis." Bruce rolled his eyes. Otis used one tentacle to retrieve Ron from the water while taking a treat from Nicholas. "Just one treat, Nicholas. He already had some earlier."

"Yes, Sir." Nicholas responded. "Sorry. Otis is my friend." A soaking wet Ron was now sitting on the floor of the boat. 

_______________________________________________________________________

Severus glared at the students in the hall. He noticed the wet boy, a Weasley judging by the red hair. He glanced at Nicholas, who shrugged. He waved his wand giving the Weasley boy clean, dry clothing. "Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are four houses, they are Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor." Gryffindor was said with a lot of disdain. "Now while you're here your house will be like your family, in some cases your only family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

Suddenly a toad was hopping down the corridor. "Trevor! Sorry." Neville apologized to Severus and retrieved his toad. Neville had been to Hogwarts a lot over the years as well as most of the other first years. 

"May I suggest Mr. Longbottom that you keep control of your familiar or I will." Severus warned. 

"Yes, Sir." Neville put Trevor into his pocket. He wasn't afraid of Severus but knew whatever Severus said the man meant.

Severus pointed to the Great Hall. "The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily. I will return in a few minutes to escort you in. Do not leave this area." Severus headed to the Great Hall.

"I heard a Weasley is here." Someone quietly said to their neighbor.

"Really?" A hushed voice asked.

"Wonder if they have finally realized what being a pure-blood is about." Another boy asked.

"I think it was the one that fell into the lake." Another student stated.

"Really, that would explain so much." The first person replied. He looked at Ron. "Red hair and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley." He paused, "however, it appears you are realizing that some wizarding families are better than others, Weasley. You don't want to make friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

"Who are you?" Ron asked. 

"Oh, I do apologize, I am Marcus Orus Paddington." Marcus was an average sized boy with dirty blond hair. 

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself. I don't need your help." Ron looked around at the rest of the first-years. He saw all new uniforms on the rest of the students. 

"What is Mark doing?" Draco quietly asked. Draco wasn't sure what Mark was trying to accomplish. He sounded like a jerk and certainly wasn't the attitude that was welcomed in Hogwarts.

"No idea but he sounds like a pompous jackass." Nicholas responded.

"Feeling Weasley out?" Draco wondered.

"Could be but I feel Weasley is a Gryffindor."

"Great, like we need another one of them." Draco rolled his eyes. Gryffindor wasn't a bad house. The ones who went into Gryffindor were the ones who usually got into trouble because they did a lot of things without thinking. 

"We're ready for you. Follow me." Severus didn't even wait to see if they were following him, he just spun on his heels, robes billowing behind him as he led them into the Great Hall.

"It's not really the ceiling. It's just bewitched to look like the night outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History." A girl with frizzy hair, buck-teeth, holding a book informed everyone.

"Muggle-born." Pansy stated. "Ravenclaw?"

"I think so." Blaise glanced at the book. It was clearly Hogwarts: A History.

Severus pointed to the wall on their left. "Will you wait along here. Now before we begin Professor Peverell would like to say a few words."

Voldemort stood up. "Welcome students old and new to another exciting year. I have a few start-of-term notices. The first years please note that the Forbidden Forest is strictly forbidden to all students without a professor accompanying you. Our caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Emerson, remind everyone to review the list of forbidden items. Remember if you cast a spell in the corridors be ready to defend yourself. Thank you." Voldemort sat back down. He sat on a regular chair, not a throne that Dumbledore had used.

At Voldemort's nod, Severus pulled out a scroll from his robes. He was standing near a three-legged stool and onto of the stool was a hat. "When I call your name you will come forth. I shall place the Sorting Hat on your head and you will be sorted into your houses." Tradition rarely changed at Hogwarts. 

Everyone was watching the sorting when Ron quietly asked, "why does that end table have so few students?"

Before anyone could answer the hat shouted out "It better be Slytherin." 

The first year headed to the far left table but Ron wasn't looking. He had turned and faced Nicholas. "It must be the Slytherin table. There's no witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."

No one said a word as they were shocked. No one judged houses like that any longer. While Gryffindor wasn't the most popular house they weren't treated the same way that Dumbledore allowed the Slytherins to be treated. The hall was quiet. Everyone was staring at Ron. Severus recovered and realized he needed to get the boy sorted before someone hurt the boy for his bigotted attitude. "Ronald Weasley!"

Ron almost ran to the stool. The hat wasn't even close to the boy's head when it yelled out "Gryffindor!"

Ron beamed a smile at Nicholas. He started to head to the table with the most students, on the far right. "Mr. Weasley, you are a Gryffindor, not a Slytherin." He pointed to the table with the least number of students, exactly 23 students, counting Ron. A lot of Gryffindors had fled with Dumbledore. Based on Dumbledore's word that Gryffindors would not be welcomed at Hogwarts.

"Nicholas Peverell."

Nicholas sat down and before the hat even touched his head it shouted "Slytherin!" If anyone had been looking at Ron Weasley, they would have treated the boy for shock. The ones closest to him heard him say "no, Harry Potter can't be a Slytherin."

"Where have you been?" One of the older Gryffindors asked. "He's been the son of the Dark Lord since Dumbledore ran with his tail between his legs."


	2. Chapter 2

"Nicholas." 

Nicholas turned around in the main hall to see a group of older Gryffindors coming toward him. "Hey, guys. Severus said we can start the Potion Club this week. He set up lab 6 for us to use." Since Nicholas lived at Hogwarts there weren't many students that he didn't know personally. 

"Great, but that isn't what we wanted to talk to you about. Well, more like warn you." Michael Huffman, a fifth year Gryffindor, looked at his friends. They were all part of the Potion Club. He knew they were a bit more protective of Nicholas than most because they spent a lot of time with Nicholas. 

"Yeah, a warning is the right word." Thurston Pilkington's younger brother was in Ravenclaw, while twin sister was in Hufflepuff, and his youngest brother was in Slytherin.

"A warning?" Nicholas looked at the group of five Gryffindors that he had known since they started at Hogwarts. The house rivalries that used to exist didn't any longer. The students weren't perfect but it wasn't Gryffindor versus Slytherin like when Dumbledore was the Headmaster. 

Voldemort believed if there was an issue the best way to settle it was in a safe environment usually having the Head of Houses involved. Hogwarts also had a few dueling rooms for students to use if they were angry or upset. They didn't want students cursing each other in the halls and didn't want pranks like what the Marauders. 

"Weasley was in full rant mode last night about you being Harry Potter. How you needed to defeat your father. He raved about Dumbledore. Merlin, he wouldn't shut up about Dumbledore. All of it was wrong but no matter how many facts we showed him. He kept insisting that your father wasn't You-Know-Who. He claimed it was someone posing as the Dark Lord and how the real You-Know-You was going to return. When we asked who You-Know-Who was, he could barely say Voldemort." Angelia Lu had been surprised about what Weasley believed. "He kept insisting the Dumbledore left Hogwarts because he was trying to save the purebloods and show people that they didn't need to stay in Britain to be tortured by the minions of the real Dark Lord." 

"He actually made no sense in his reasoning. No matter what we pointed out he kept insisting that you needed to be called Harry Potter and that he had to get you to Dumbledore." Michael knew he wasn't the only one who wasn't sure how to handle the newest lion. "He wasn't very popular last night." Many of their housemates tried to stop Weasley from his rant but the boy wouldn't shut up.

"I'll warn my father. What is Professor Nanus say?" Nicholas didn't want to listen to another long-winded list of Dumbledore's fake accomplishments. He also knew that would mean his father, Uncle Lucius, and Severus would be extra protective of him. He touched the emergency port-key he wore around his neck. 

"He gave him a detention and assigned some essays he will need to research." Angelia had been the one to go and get their Head of House. 

"Thank you. I'll speak to my father." Nicholas and the group headed into the Great Hall for breakfast.

_______________________________________________________________

Severus and the other Heads of Houses were handing out everyone's schedule, when Ron Weasley stood up, waved his schedule as he began yelling "I'm not taking Dark Arts or anything else dark. How can you teach this? It's evil, it's dark. Dumbledore would have never allowed Hogwarts to be so perverted." 

"Mr. Weasley, come with me, NOW!" Professor Nanus handed the remaining schedules to one of the prefects. "Mr. Wilson, finish passing these out." Professor Nanus escorted a whining Weasley out of the Great Hall. 

"Yes, Sir." Gabriel Byrnes, as well as several others, were glaring at the retreating form of Ronald Weasley.

Nicholas shook his head. "I have a feeling Weasley is going to find Hogwarts isn't what he expected." 

"I'm more concerned about what Weasley wants from you." Draco didn't trust Weasley. 

"I'm more concerned with what Dumbledore expects Weasley to do." Nicholas told his best friend. "I know Father isn't happy." Nicholas didn't have to look up at the Head Table to know. 

________________________________________________________________________

"Dumbledore says-" 

Nicholas wanted to curse someone, well really Ron Weasley. He knew he wasn't the only one. Every class had students saying the same thing about Weasley. All about how annoying he was. Granger was his only friend but only because she was as annoying as Weasley was. Granger was always quoting Hogwarts: A History like it was a Bible and kept trying to get everyone into what she considered study groups or set up their revision schedule as she wanted it to be set up. If you didn't agree with her she hit you. 

"Shut up about Dumbledore." Erica Hughes slammed her quill down. "We are sick of listening to you about him. The man isn't a saint, the man isn't even in this country. If you are so against what is being taught here at Hogwarts, why did you attend? Don't even mention Harry Potter." 

"He should be called Harry Potter. He is the Boy-Who-Lived." Weasley's red face showed he was ready to do the Harry Potter rant.

"Mr. Weasley detention, my office, 7." Lucius only taught two days a week. He taught Magical Law to the upper years and Political Science to the first thru third years. 

"You should be in Azkaban. You and all your Death Eater friends." 

"You are expelled from my class." Lucius really wanted to hex the boy. He was hoping this might be a good way to ship him back to Dumbledore. 

Lucius, Severus, and Voldemort had tried to figure out how to get rid of the boy. They needed to make sure it was done legally. They knew Dumbledore would go running to the ICW and French government no matter how it was done. They weren't going to do anything but let the boy's own attitude hang him. 

______________One month later_____________________________________________

Voldemort looked around his office. It was another meeting for the staff concerning two different students. Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. He wasn't exactly sure which direction he wanted to go in handling each student. He just didn't want Dumbledore to make problems for him in regards to the ICW. He wasn't worried about the ICW doing anything against him but just didn't want to even be called into an ICW to explain Ronald Weasley.

"If we expel Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore will make a lot of waves." Filius warned. He was one of the few who remained at Hogwarts when Dumbledore ran. He had thought his kind would be destroyed. Instead, they were welcomed and accepted. Something Dumbledore didn't do. 

"I agree. We need to make sure everything is documented, my Lord." Lucius had researched and double checked all the laws that Dumbledore might try to use. "Memories, detailed detention reports, even copies of his tests, and assignments." 

"I have reported to Dumbledore the issues but he hasn't responded to those reports except to ask questions about Nicholas. He wants me to find out what kind of protection you have provided, how often does he leave the castle. I believe he is hoping he can get Weasley to port-key him away or even plan a kidnapping, my Lord." Severus handed over the letters Dumbledore had written. "He doesn't come out and say anything directly."

"Of course, he wouldn't. He is relying on your ability to read what he means." Voldemort cast a coping spell. He began to write some ideas on how to protect his son better. He already had some protective spells and charms on his son, as well as an emergency port-key. "Lucius, keep the copies with the other evidence. How many classes have Mr. Weasley be removed from?"

"Dark Arts after three lessons. Every class he would start on a rant on how the Dark Arts made you crazy, corrupted your soul, and something about it twisted your mind and soul. We tried to explain how the Dark Arts worked but he doesn't want to listen. Magical Law, well, you read the report. Any class that he felt was being taught by a Death Eater." Professor Nanus handed the list to Voldemort. "I won't even tell you how many fights I've had to handle because of him in the common room and his dorm."

"How are the other Gryffindors handling Mr. Weasley's attitude, besides fighting?" Voldemort had seen the reports. 

"Most of them have learned to ignore him. However, it doesn't seem to deter him." Professor Nanus had asked several of his older students to try and keep the younger years away from Weasley to cut down on the fights. 

"I've had problems with him in potions. Every potion he asks if it's dark. He even asked if the cure boils potion was dark, my Lord. I fear Ms. Granger is following in his footsteps. She was talking to him about how being gay was immoral. This was after I gave the lecture on frog's spleens which is used in the male pregnancy potion. Mr. Weasley spent the class telling her about Dumbledore's views." 

"I've spoken to her." Filius looked up from his own notes. "She came to me after Mr. Weasley expulsion from Lucius' class. She had a lot of questions which I answered. I don't believe she accepted the answers I provided. She used references from a King James' Bible. I believe she is a devout Christian. The information that Weasley provided her was more illusions about Dumbledore, those fiction stories about Harry Potter, and the fake reasons why Dumbledore left the country." 

Voldemort had set the record straight regarding the truth about Harry Potter. Sadly, most of the other countries like the fictional tales of Harry Potter and kept them in print. All of the books referenced where you could find the true story. The books did state that their book was fiction but that didn't seem to stop Dumbledore from using them to promote his agenda.

"Is she signed up for any of the religion classes?" Voldemort knew many muggles had issues with the beliefs that the wizarding world had. 

"No, I tried to get her to understand the differences. She just refused to be open about the classes. I explained to her that it wasn't about converting her but to show her our beliefs. She was insistent that her religion was the only true religion." Filius had tried but the girl didn't want to listen.

"I believe Mr. Weasley has been using that. I heard him informing her that Dumbledore believed the muggles and wizarding worlds should be combined. How he doesn't believe muggles would have an issue with wizards." Irma Pince said. "They aren't very quiet about their discussions in the library."

"I see." Voldemort looked at the rest of the staff. "All of you are having the same type of issues?"

"Yes. Neither wants to listen." Most of the staff answered. 

"Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger seem to get along rather well in my class and won't group with anyone else." Pomona had tried to get them to group with others but the two refused. Voldemort didn't have the classes broken up by houses, he had them broken up by how they tested. If they were slower or needed more help they were in smaller classes. If they were fast learners or bright, they were in different classes. Voldemort wanted students to be able to learn at their own pace. 

"Mr. Weasley has been telling everyone that Nicholas is Harry Potter and that he must fight You-Know-Who when he returns. He is under the impression that you aren't Voldemort. He won't even say your name, my Lord." Bella taught the Self-Defense class. "When I explained that you were the Dark Lord he called me a liar. Claim you were a fraud. The biggest tale he believes is that you are posing as You-Know-Who so that the Death Eaters could remain in control."

Voldemort looked surprised. He hadn't hidden who he was. While he used the name Peverell, he wasn't hiding who he was. He certainly didn't stop using the name Voldemort. Maybe he needed to find out what Dumbledore was spiking his tea with.

"Along with all Death Eaters belong in Azkaban and how we have ruined Harry Potter." Narcissa taught healing. "He informed several Slytherin that if Dumbledore was here they wouldn't have been allowed to attend." 

"My Lord, I believe Dumbledore is hoping that you will expel Mr. Weasley after he creates a divide. He honestly believes everyone here supports him. He believes you are using death threats and torture to keep control." Severus wasn't sure why Dumbledore believed that. "He has tried to get a people in as spies into the Ministry and Hogwarts." 

"I do agree with Severus. Mr. Weasley is causing problems but not in the way that Dumbledore is expecting. The school is united against him." Lucius didn't want the boy back in class. He knew the rest of the staff didn't want him in their classes.

"Keep everything documented. Regarding Ms. Granger, all we can do is hope she will come around. The hitting needs to stop." Voldemort made some notes on Granger's file. "Perhaps arrange for her to speak to some of the muggle-born students, perhaps those that come from a religious background?"

"I have already spoken to a few and they have agreed to meet with us tomorrow night." Filius hoped it worked. The girl was bright but wasn't open to changes of any kind. He was actually surprised she decided to come to Hogwarts.

The door to Voldemort's office was opened. Nicholas stepped into the room. "Sorry for interrupting but someone sent me this. It's a port-key." They saw a book floating behind Nicholas. "I found it on my desk. It was mixed in with my other books. I knew it wasn't one of mine." 

Voldemort cleared an area on his desk. Nicholas floated the book over to his father's desk. "Augustus, Severus, Lucius, each of you set up a separate recording for this. Narcissa, Pomona, Filius, cast the detection spells. I don't want anyone to claim this is a set-up." 

Everyone followed their orders as Nicholas and the others watched. Bella had pulled Nicholas close to her, putting her arm over Nicholas' shoulder. "Severus and I will double check the wards." 

Voldemort knew the Aurors couldn't do anything as of yet. "I will forward this to Madam Bones. She can hopefully find a way to use it." 

"I will also check the files for international port-keys." Lucius was going to the Ministry tomorrow so he just added this to-do list of things.

"Good. If there is nothing else, I want to spend time with my son." Voldemort dismissed everyone. Nicholas sat down. "Nicholas, I know you won't like this but I want to add some parsel protection on you." 

"I don't mind it actually. Weasley is freaking me out with his Harry Potter and Dumbledore rants. Do you think Dumbledore might have used a house-elf?" Nicholas looked at the book. "No idea why he thought that book would work." It was a book that Nicholas had read a few years ago. Most students had read it before coming to Hogwarts. It was a beginners book on magical theory.

"I do. Weasley doesn't have the skill to bypass Severus and Bella's additional wards and Hogwarts would have told me if he tried to break her wards. He used a house-elf a few years ago when he tried to find you at the Dursley residence." The only reason it was discovered was that Petunia Dursley freaked out seeing the house-elf and blasted the Ministry for sending something so freakish to her house. "This was a book that Dumbledore had on the first-year book list." 

"What do you think he might try next?" Nicholas was a bit tired of Weasley and Dumbledore. 

"He will wait until you are away from Hogwarts. Most likely he will use another port-key or even have someone snatch you and apparate you to someplace else before port-keying you. Apparition overseas by oneself is hard, never mind taking someone else." Voldemort was going to be making sure there were extra people in Hogsmeade when the students went into town. He knew that Dumbledore didn't have a photograph of his son, as he had added that protection on his son a long time ago and renewed it each year. 

"I will make sure to go no place by myself. Draco is going to be glued to me when I tell him. Severus will follow me into Hogsmeade." 

"They will." Voldemort hoped Severus didn't kill Weasley or Dumbledore if they hurt his son because he would want to do it.


	3. Chapter 3

The last few months had been everyone avoiding Weasley and Granger. Weasley kept insisting that something evil was going to happen on Samhain. Weasley spent the feast glaring at Nicholas. Granger lectured the students around her about how Samhain should be removed. November was basically everyone avoiding the two of them. Yule was horrid with Granger. Weasley and Granger went home, many thought that Granger went to France with Weasley. January, February, March, and April had the staff and students wanting to kill the duo. It was now almost May. 

Weasley hadn't been subtle in what Dumbledore's beliefs. Weasley had been trying to get the school to believe him about what really happened that night. He even gifted everyone a copy of Dumbledore's book about the Potters and what happened on that night for Yule. Weasley had them delivered the night before everyone was to leave for the Yule holiday. Nicholas had laughed when he saw the book. 

************Flashback***************

"What? You can't take the truth?" Weasley had demanded when Nicholas laughed.

"It's not the truth." Nicholas banished the book. "Weasley, why don't you think about this? The only people who survived that night are me and my father. Dumbledore wasn't there. He even says so in the book. He tells people that this is what he believes happened. I would think you would take the story of the two who were there over someone who wasn't." 

"You were a baby. You-Know-Who hasn't returned. So no one can tell us. Dumbledore was great friends with the Potters. He helped set up the Fidelius Charm." Weasley defended Dumbledore. 

"Look what happened to them." Nicholas knew it was Pettigrew who ratted out his parents to his father. Pettigrew ran, no one knew where. Dumbledore ran, as did his godfather, Sirius Black. "Pettigrew was the secret keeper and he informed my father." 

"Dumbledore was protecting you and them from Death Eaters and You-Know-Who. Death Eaters were killing Order members and attacking innocent people." 

Nicholas had no illusions about what happened that night. "It was war. How come Dumbledore attacks Death Eater he calls them raids. Saying they were preventing corruption of their world. They were protecting innocent people. He attacked people in their homes. However, when Order members had their houses raided or attacked he claims Death Eaters attacked innocents. My biological father was an Auror and an active Order member who went on raids during a time of war. Do you not understand the concept of war?" 

"You-Know-Who will return and start killing muggles. He will kill half-bloods. He will make sure all pure-bloods will rule."

"Weasley, how about you think about this? My father is Voldemort. He is sitting right there. Your friend is a muggle-born. We have other muggle-born here in attendance. They aren't ghosts. Look around, see the number of students." Nicholas smirked as students cheered a bit. 

"Mr. Weasley, I am Voldemort. If you wish I can provide to the number of students versus the numbers that attended when your beloved Dumbledore was in charge. We have three times as many students. Every classroom and house is filled." Voldemort was sitting in his normal chair. It wasn't a throne but a comfortable chair. "I am sure Ms. Granger can attest that there have been no threats to her life or her parents." 

Granger looked a bit sheepish. "No there hasn't been. Actually, everyone was very welcoming to my parents and me. They even arranged for us to have escorts around Diagon Alley." 

"Dumbledore is trying to protect us from You-Know-Who." 

"Ron, sit down. You aren't going to win." Granger tugged Weasley down to his seat.

_____________________________________________

Nicholas and Draco were standing over a cauldron. "Hey Markus, I think this is the wrong color." Draco looked at their potion ingredients on the cutting board as Markus walked over. 

"We are off a shade or two. I am not sure why." Nicholas knew they followed the directions exactly. 

Markus looked at the potion in the cauldron. "I got that shade before. Severus said it was because the frog's liver was about to expire. It will be fine by the end of the potion." 

"Yes, it will." Severus appeared behind the group. Everyone but Nicholas jumped a bit. He wasn't surprised by that. Severus had been assisting two Hufflepuffs with their potion. The Dark Lord taught his son a long time ago to be aware of his surrounds, to be aware of changes in magic. It was something all Death Eaters had mastered. Something that was taught at Hogwarts to all seventh years, with the foundation starting during their first year. 

"Is there a way to tell if they are about to expire?" Thomas, a Ravenclaw, looked at his frog's liver.

"Sadly, no there isn't. It will only affect this stage of the potion." Severus, using his wand, threw up a list of potions. "All of these potions will see the color change. As as you can see it's-" Severus stopped talking as the door to Lab 6 was opened. Since it was the Potion Club meeting people turned to see who was entering.

"Sorry to disturb you. We are doing a student check." Bella, with Filius and Pomona, began to check off the students present in the room. "Is it a safe time for you to leave the club, Professor Snape?"

Severus saw the quick glance at Nicholas. He realized what had happened. "Everything everyone is working on is at a safe stage. We were going to be wrapping everything up in ten minutes, so everyone start to clean up. Nicholas, Draco, Markus, and Thomas make sure everything is put up correctly." 

"Yes, Sir." The four boys replied. 

_________________________________________________________________

Severus headed to the Headmaster's office. The door was opened, like Dumbledore, he had wards to tell him who was coming up the stairs. Severus wasn't surprised to find the rest of the Heads of Houses and department heads already in the office, as well as Lucius. "Who is missing?" Severus knew from the looks on the Dark Lord's face it wasn't good news. He was going to be writing a long letter tonight to Dumbledore about this attempt. He would have stopped it if he had known. He had tried to warn Dumbledore that things were what he hoped. Dumbledore, like normal, ignored what he didn't want to hear.

"No one. We found Granger and Weasley in that little room by the kitchen. Odin dropped them there when they tried to port-key out. When I spoke to the Head House Elf Mitt, he informed me that two house-elves have been coming into Hogwarts. One of the other elves recognized one of them as the personal house-elf of Dumbledore from when Dumbledore was here. The other is an interesting one. It had the Potter family crest on his pillowcase." Voldemort laid down a baseball on his desk. "Weasley was holding this." 

"The Potters elves are already here at Hogwarts. The houses were closed down." Lucius had handled the legal issues from when the Dark Lord adopted Harry Potter. "So it's not really a Potter elf. Do you think it might be another one of his personal ones?" 

"I believe so. Mitt is banning all house-elves that aren't part of Hogwarts or have a member of their house they belong to." Voldemort knew Mitt would do anything to protect his son. "Mitt wasn't able to prevent it before today but the house-elves are taking it as a personal attack on my son." 

"What was the goal of the port-key?" Filius thought or hoped that Dumbledore hadn't tried to kidnap Nicholas.

"We learned from the temper tantrum that Ms. Granger had that Mr. Weasley was showing it to her. He wanted her to help him get a baseball gaming going. He would be next to Nicholas. He would give him the ball to Nicholas and say the passcode. Mr. Weasley wasn't aware it was designed for multi people and told Ms. Granger the password which triggered the port-key. The ward alerted me of the port-key. We weren't sure who it was for as I knew Nicholas was still present." Voldemort was going to contact the goblins and see if they would strengthen and inspect all the wards at Hogwarts. They usually did it every other year. Since Dumbledore seemed determined to get his son he wanted to do anything possible to prevent it. 

Lucius knew Dumbledore was desperate but he didn't think the man was stupid. The man never acted rash, but many in the ICW had been wondering about the man's sanity.

"Perhaps we can use this to expel Mr. Weasley?" Professor Nanes picked up the baseball. "Why a baseball?"

"I believe because not many know the rules to baseball. It would fit with his ideal about pure-bloods. So it would enable Mr. Weasley to get close to my son." Voldemort looked at Lucius. "Is this a legal reason to get rid of Mr. Weasley?"

"I believe we can get Mr. Weasley to admit he got the baseball from Dumbledore. We know how Dumbledore works. He wouldn't have come right out and said it was to kidnap Nicholas. We can suspend him for a few days on his usage of a port-key inside of Hogwarts. If we tried to go get him expelled, Dumbledore would use the accidental use of the password to show that it wasn't to be used." Lucius had been dealing Dumbledore and his creative word choices. 

________________________________________________________________

Nicholas groaned as Weasley was heading toward him.

"Potter." 

Nicholas turned and started to walk toward his father's office. He had been heading down to the dungeons but it appeared Weasley had been waiting for him. 

"Potter, I want to talk to you." 

Nicholas kept walking. Students and staff were watching but no rules were being broken. 

"POTTER! You coward, running away like always. Some Savior you are."

Nicholas laughed as he kept walking. "He needs a mind healer." Nicholas heard a few say as he passed them.

"I'm hoping he doesn't return." It was a sentiment shared by all.


	4. Chapter 4

It was almost the end of May. The students were forming review groups for their end of year exams. The fifth and seventh years forming reviewing sessions for their OWLs and NEWTs. Weasley was a bit surprised to find that in the review groups that they could be held in the Great Hall where there would be staff members available to assist, answer questions, or even do a demonstration. 

Weasley began to question the validity of the groups. Asking why they had to be in the Great Hall. When one of the students pointed out the groups could meet anywhere they wanted, when they wanted, but found that most wanted the extra assistance offered by their professors. The study groups in the Great Hall were just another shocker for Weasley to endure. He had few shockers over the year that he still hadn't adjusted too. 

***************Flashback******************

"Why isn't there any sunshine inside Hogwarts? All the windows aren't blocked but no real light comes in from them. Look at all the sconces, what a huge waste of candles." Weasley asked Granger as they were sitting in a study group in the library. Granger had dragged Weasley into the study session that the Ravenclaws held almost daily. 

"So that the vampires won't turn into dust." A Ravenclaw sent his friends a look that made it clear he thought Weasley was an idiot.

"WHAT?" Granger and Weasley almost screamed at the same time but for different reasons. Weasley in fear, Granger screamed out of disbelieving.

"Yes, haven't you noticed that all creatures are allowed to attend? There isn't anyone banned from attending Hogwarts." The same Ravenclaw was wondering how blind the two were. Her name was Hannah. 

"They're dangerous." Weasley started looking around the library. He was looking for someone being used for food. He hadn't seen anyone disappear but the school was huge. He also hadn't seen any room covered in blood but the house-elves would have cleaned up the mess. He put his hand up to his neck to check to make sure he hadn't been bitten and had his memory charmed by a vampire to forget it.

Dumbledore always warned him about how dangerous dark creatures were. The only reason why Lupin was with Dumbledore was that Lupin took his monthly potions. Lupin had been friends with the Potters and Sirius Black. Lupin had always stayed away from students at the time of the month.

"There isn't such a thing as vampires." Granger scoffed. "Honestly, Ronald, they are just pulling your leg. Vampires are just things that muggles use for horror stories, based on Vlad the Impaler. Vlad the Impaler used barbarous methods to destroy his enemies creating the legend that Bram Stroker used to create his story, Dracula." Granger gave them her 'you should be ashamed of yourself' face. 

"I'm a vampire." Marshall showed his fangs. Since he was only a first year they weren't very long but there were longer than a humans teeth. "Vlad wasn't really a vampire at that time in history but later. He wasn't turned until after he destroyed the Turks. Bram Stroker actually got the story from Vlad's grandson who thought it would be funny to have a human write a fictional tale about Vlad and vampires. He gave Bram a lot of fake details about vampires. We still laugh about the book." 

"I'm a werewolf." Karen was quite proud of her back. "Fenrir Greyback is my grandfather." She watched Weasley pale at Fenrir's name. She knew the tales that Dumbledore has been telling about her grandfather. What she never understood is why he never told anyone that Lupin's father was a werewolf hunter and had been about to kill a child when Fenrir snatched Remus Lupin. They did an exchange and Fenrir's saliva had gotten into an open wound on Remus from when the boy had been hurt earlier that day. Fenrir wasn't planning on the boy being turned, but he was grateful it happened. It had stopped Lupin's father from hunting their kind as he was now focused on finding a cure for his son. 

"I'm half-elf and vampire." The tallest boy of the group named Dylan smiled, showing his own fangs. His hair was almost a white blond, his skin was shimmering with the pearlescent aspect of his half-elf heritage. "I think you two are the only humans in the library right now." His family had been one of the many families that had barely been surviving when Dumbledore had fled. Voldemort had updated and improved conditions in Knockturn without destroying the whole alley. 

"Stop it. There aren't such beings as vampires, elves, werewolves, or anything else. They are just doing it to tease you." Granger looked at them. "Telling tales to scare him isn't very nice. It's very mean. You know how hard of a time he has been already been having. I invited him to come to the group so he could learn not everyone is against him." 

"Actually, Granger, we aren't. Unlike Dumbledore, Headmaster Peverell opened the doors of Hogwarts for everyone. Professor Flitwick is a half-goblins. I know you saw goblins when you went to Gringotts." Dylan told her. "We have no reason to torment Weasley."

"No, he isn't. He is just classified as a dwarf. It's a mutation of a gene that runs in families. Those weren't goblins at Gringotts. They were just a family with the same gene." Granger was proving she was living in the land of denial. 

"Actually, Granger, they are goblins. There are also vampires, werewolves, and other dark creatures. There are even mermaids in Black Lake." Nicholas, who had been standing at the end of the stacks had heard what Granger was saying. He had come into the library to pick up some research books. "Ask Weasley, he knows." Weasley was looking white like his skin had been bleached. His hair was looking even redder because of it. "I think he needs to see Madam Pomfrey for a shock treatment."

"He is right, Granger, those were goblins. A friend of mine in France is also a werewolf. Unlike the werewolves here he takes a monthly potion to control his wolf." Weasley had backed a bit away from the group. His eyes were watching the ones who stated they were vampires. He wasn't worried about the werewolf since it wasn't that time of the month. He backed up until the hit one of the bookshelves behind him knocking a few books down when he jolted the bookcase.

"You mean poison. If you actually studied the potion, like you should have, you would have realized the damage it does to the body with long-term usage." Severus stepped out of the stacks. "You're late, the bell sounded for next session. You are currently sitting at the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff study group that I agreed to meet with to assist their potion review." Severus had heard the whole discussion. He wondered what Dumbledore was teaching his followers. 

The group of Ravenclaws and Granger looked around and saw the waiting group of students. Granger stood up. "There isn't any such thing as werewolves, vampires, or anything else. Honestly, telling tales to scare kids shouldn't be allowed to happen in a school." She turned to the waiting students who gave the girl a confused look.

Miss Pince appeared out of nowhere, scaring those who still weren't used to the woman's skill. "Miss Granger read these." She handed the girl three books. "They will explain everything." A few knew that Miss Pince was actually part air-elemental. She was able to glide around using air currents so rarely made any sounds when she walked. 

"You can't allow dangerous dark creatures here. We are all in danger." Weasley looked around. "Hogwarts didn't allow dark creatures Dumbledore was the headmaster. They will turn you into snacks if they don't kill you outright."

"Oh, he is one of them." Marshall looked at his friends. "One who knows nothing about our kind and certainly doesn't bother to learn the truth." 

"It's been almost seven months and they haven't noticed?" Marshall looked a bit confused. "You haven't noticed once a month that students don't sleep in the dorms? Vampires only need to feed once or twice a week and use a blood-supplement unless they have a mate or a donor. Most of the seventh years have a mate or donor."

"Don't forget about the light-sided creatures. They also attend. There are dwarves, cupids, half-beings. No one is excluded from getting a Hogwarts education." Since Dylan was a half-elf he was classified as a half-being. "There are even pixies, brownies, and fairies that attended. They usually like to sit in the rafters." 

They heard what sounded like twinkling laughter from the fairies. "They are talking to you. As a human, I'm not sure if you can understand them fully."

"Is that what we have been hearing all year? Their speaking?" Weasley looked up to the rafters. He wasn't as pale as he had been.

"Yes, they have been trying to speak to you." Nicholas held his hand up and a pixie landed on his hand. "This is Uda. She likes your bright hair." He wasn't going to tell Weasley she had been collecting his hair to weave into a rug. 

"As pleasant as teaching common knowledge is to dunderheads I do wish to start my study group. So are the students who are waiting for me to aid them." Severus arched a brow. The Ravenclaws gathered their stuff, apologized to their fellow year mates. 

Granger looked at them. "I'm sure this is a spell." She turned and headed out of the library with the books Mrs. Pince gave her.

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt." One of the muggle-born Hufflepuffs remarked. 

Weasley, wisely for once, retreated without saying anything else.

******************End Flashback******************

"Nicholas, are you ready for your end of year exams?" Voldemort was having tea in the living area of his quarters. 

"Yes, I'm a bit nervous, like always. I attended today's study session and left feeling like I was ready for the exams." Nicholas always enjoyed spending time in the review sessions in the Great Hall. This year was different as he was in the review sessions in the Great Hall. 

"I still want you to be extra aware of your surroundings."

"I am. I also have made sure to not leave here without you, Severus, Lucius, or Bella with me. I had not planned on leaving until we go home." Nicholas really didn't have to leave Hogwarts. His family was here, the house-elves could get anything, plus the owl-order service the stores offered made it easy to remain here.

"Severus hasn't heard anything from Dumbledore beyond his usual request for information. However, I do know that there have been a few house-elves who have attempted to gain access. The wards have been able to keep them out. It doesn't mean Dumbledore won't try something."

"I sleep with the emergency port-key." The port-key was covered by parseltongue spells so only he and his father could remove the port-key or see it. 

"Good." 

__________________________________________________________

Nicholas was getting excited. It was the last day of school. Students were going to be heading to the train to leave for their summer holiday. He felt he had passed all of his exams and wasn't worried about his grades. He would be able to spend some time with his father and friends without worrying about Weasley. He was almost to the dungeon area when Weasley stepped out of an alcove and threw something at him. He tried to side-step it but whatever Weasley threw latched onto his uniform. He felt the pull of the port-key as Weasley said "Bye." Nicholas felt the magic caress his skin but remained stationary. "You really shouldn't have done that." 

Weasley looked completely surprised to see Nicholas still standing there. "How?" He finally managed to stammer out. 

"What is going on here?" Severus had been the first to respond to the magical signal that Nicholas was in danger. He knew the Dark Lord, Bella, and Lucius would respond. 

"He threw a port-key at me." Nicholas pulled the port-key off of his uniform. 

Severus groaned. He honestly thought Dumbledore wouldn't be so stupid. "Mr. Weasley, I believe the Headmaster is going to be very interested in this information." 

"I am." Voldemort was standing at the entrance to the dungeons. Lucius and Bella were with him. "Nicholas?"

"I'm fine, father. I didn't even move. I just felt the pull of the port-key and then the port-keys magic as it tried to work." 

Voldemort was thankful they had the goblins add the extra wards and protections to Hogwarts. "Mr. Weasley, my office." Voldemort reined in his anger. He knew the boy was delusional about Dumbledore and he had hoped the past ten months would have opened the boy's eyes. "Professor Malfoy if you can inform Professor Nanus I have one of his lions in my office, I would appreciate it."


	5. Chapter 5

Voldemort and Nicholas walked quietly as Weasley followed behind them with Severus. They knew Lucius would meet them at Voldemort's office with Professor Nanus. As they walked Voldemort worked on keeping his temper. He found thinking of the different ways to kill Dumbledore helped him deal with his anger. 

The gargoyle didn't delay them arriving at his office. Nothing actually delayed them. Hogwarts knew her headmaster wasn't happy, she didn't like someone trying to interfere with her wards. Hogwart made sure her headmaster got to his office so that he could deal with the problem. 

"Sit, Mr. Weasley." Voldemort commanded. Voldemort sat down in his chair, facing Weasley. Nicholas took the chair next to Weasley, while Severus stood behind Nicholas. Severus position behind his son didn't surprise him. Lucius and Professor Nanus arrived and stood next to Severus behind the chair Weasley was occupying. "Nicholas, what happened?" 

"I was walking down the hall. Weasley stepped in front of me, threw the port-key, said bye. He was very surprised when nothing happened." Nicholas wasn't sure why the boy tried to use a port-key again. It didn't work before. Nicholas hadn't left Hogwarts due to studying so Weasley never really had a chance to get him outside of Hogwarts. 

"Mr. Weasley, I'm not sure what story you are going to use but please provide us with it." Voldemort was going to use this as a way to get rid of this Weasley. Dumbledore would put up a stink with the ICWn but this was a valid reason to expel the boy without Dumbledore claiming that he was being biased.

Weasley looked uncomfortable. He shifted in his seat for a few seconds. He looked around the room. "I'm not sure if you will believe me or not, but I don't want to return to France or Dumbledore. I knew the port-key wouldn't work inside of Hogwarts. That is why I tossed it at Potter. I-"

"Peverell." Nicholas automatically replied. He was getting sick of correct Weasley and Granger about his last name. Granger still didn't believe they told her the truth about vampires and other creatures. 

"Sorry. I couldn't be seen coming here so I used the port-key. Dumbledore said he had spies here at Hogwarts and that if I ever got into trouble they would protect me. I know his spies will report that I used the port-key. The spies have been here for years. He didn't say who they were. I do know he sent me things using house elves. The spies were the reason my parents allowed me to attend." Weasley looked ready to cry. "I didn't want his spies to report that I was actually changing my mind about your views. I didn't want Dumbledore or my parents to know that I don't trust Dumbledore. My older brothers, Bill and Charlie, have already left France because of Dumbledore. I didn't want to believe them."

"To what do we owe this change of opinion?" Voldemort wasn't sure what Dumbledore was hoping to accomplish with this plan. He wasn't about to accept a Weasley into his fold but he wasn't going to turn away the boy if the boy was being honest. He glanced at Severus. Severus hadn't mentioned this type of plan. His eyes moved to Lucius. He knew there had been a long time family feud between the Weasleys and Malfoys. Professor Nanus was a bit confused and it showed. 

"I read the books that Miss Pince gave Hermione. I had a lot of conversations with some of the students here. I saw with my own eyes that you aren't what Dumbledore and my parents have said you are. They don't want anyone around them but those Dumbledore has approved. Dumbledore doesn't allow anyone but wizards and witches to attend his school but only those he approves."

"What was the purpose of setting the port-key off in Hogwarts? You could have just stated that you didn't have the opportunity to use it." Lucius glanced at Voldemort. He was wondering what Dumbledore was attempting to do now. 

"I don't want to go back. I don't want to have anything to do with Dumbledore. I know my family loves me but Dumbledore just wants to use me and my sister when she comes next year. I know I have to go back for the summer but I would rather if I didn't." Weasley sighed. "Dumbledore has my parents under his control and so many others."

Voldemort leaned back in his chair. "What exactly do you want us to do?" They normally went to Slytherin Castle during the summer and he didn't want Weasley to be aware of any location of his residences.

"Detentions for the summer?" Weasley looked hopeful. "I can stay at Hogwarts. I really don't want to go home to France." 

Voldemort looked at Weasley in the eye. After several minutes, Voldemort turned to Professor Nanus. "May Mr. Weasley spent some time in your office while we discuss this situation?"

"Yes, sir. I can guide him there and be back in a few minutes to discuss the situation." Professor Nanus stepped away from the chair as Weasley rose. 

"Nicholas, why don't finish packing." 

"Yes, sir." Nicholas stood up and followed Weasley and Nanus. Nicholas stopped at the door, glanced over his shoulder at his father. Voldemort gave him a quick nod. 

Severus and Lucius sat down. They knew they didn't have much time. "I did a surface scan and pushed a bit deeper than normal. He had some shields that I feel Dumbledore taught must have taught him the basic. Now the interesting part is that he believes there are numerous spies here to protect him. He is hoping to spend the summer with Nicholas. His new job assignment to spend the summer with Nicholas and me. He is to push that he doesn't believe what Dumbledore does. He is starting to doubt what he is doing but not Dumbledore or his parents. He has been researching as he said. The port-key was to get him a summer detention here. If we deferred the punishment, he was to use that he didn't trust Dumbledore. He merged the two stories to make it more believable." 

"Dumbledore didn't mention anything about me protecting him. I did know if Weasley got into trouble he would have expected me to protect him."

"True, he would. My Lord, he can't stay at Hogwarts all summer, the wards need to be refreshed and strengthened. I know Dumbledore used only two days to refresh the wards but we use almost a month." Lucius had already made the arrangements. The wards had to cover all the dark creatures needs while protecting everyone at the same time. 

"I am leaning with informing him that he can stay for the summer for detention but not mentioning who he will be spending the time with. I'm sure we have a few families that will be hosting him while he works on his detentions. I am thinking the filing room in the Ministry will keep him busy. I'm sure we are behind the less dangerous filing." Voldemort began to think of the different families that might be willing to take a summer stray.

"He might not want to stay if we tell him that." Severus knew the Weasley clan was close. However, Bill and Charlie had left France as soon as they could. "He is a good liar. He mixed some truth with the lies."

"I noticed. It was what made me wonder what was going on. Every time he lied, his left eye twitched." Voldemort leaned back in his chair. "Dumbledore has a long-term agenda. The female Weasley is going to want to get close to my son."

"My Lord, I do believe that is what he is hoping. He wants Nicholas to be a Potter and linked to the Weasley family. I wouldn't be surprised if Molly and Dumbledore are hoping for a marriage." Severus remembered something he heard from Dumbledore before he left England. "Before he left, I heard him and Molly speaking about a marriage contract between Harry Potter and their daughter."

"Having the Weasley named linked to the Potter name would have done a lot to boost his power and name." Lucius had a mess he had cleaned up when Dumbledore ran. "Weasley being a friend, Nicholas married to a Weasley, it would enable him to start reclaiming his power in England." 

"True." Voldemort held up his hand as his office ward told him that Professor Nunas was on the stairwell. 

"He is in my living area working on an essay about port-keys." Professor Nunas explained when he sat down. "Have you decided? I do feel he would benefit from being away from his family."

"Yes, we have two choices for him. The first choice is to remain in England while doing his detentions. The Second choice will be a return home and do his detention in the fall. Since the cup has already been awarded we can't remove points. However, I want each member of the staff to assign an essay for him to write over the summer holiday." Voldemort saw Lucius and Severus smirk. "He will need to let us know as soon as possible since the train leaves at 11 tomorrow." 

"I will inform him." Professor Nunas hadn't sat down so he turned and headed back to his office. He really wasn't surprised but the decision. He stopped by the door. "Sir, might I suggest that Mr. Weasley spend the summer with me and my wife if he selects to remain?" 

"If he decides to remain, I have no problem with it." Voldemort knew Professor Nunas was more of a neutral alignment and would be good for Weasely. Professor Nunas would be able to answer any questions Weasley had without Dumbledore saying the man was a Death Eater. 

Once the door closed behind Professor Nunas, Lucius sighed. "Do you think he has spies at Hogwarts?" 

"No. I have told him things in letters and he has asked for more details or even suggested ways around the issues. I believe he is counting on me saving the boy if he gets into trouble." Severus knew Dumbledore had tried to get people into Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, and even in the Diagon Alley. Dumbledore's followers still shopped in Diagon Alley at times. Most of them couldn't keep their mouths shuts when it came to defending Dumbledore. 

"My Lord, I have to agree. Dumbledore's Order members stand out. We know all of his old followers and loyal members. It's the younger ones who are fanatics." Lucius had to deal with a few of them a year when they tried to get jobs at the Ministry. 

"I will have to write to Dumbledore depending on what Weasley decides, my Lord." Severus wasn't looking forward to writing to Dumbledore. Dumbledore was sure to have a ton of questions and he knew the man was going to spend the summer hounding him. Dumbledore was going to want to make sure the youngest Weasely was ready for Hogwarts and armed with the knowledge of Nicholas. Severus smirked. 

"Severus?" 

"My Lord, I believe Nicholas and I will have a summer project. Dumbledore will want information on Nicholas for the youngest Weasley as a way to get her closer to Nicholas." 

"I'm sure the two of you can provide a lot of information." Voldemort knew his son was going to enjoy that assignment, he ignored Lucius' own snort of amusement.


	6. Chapter 6

Severus was getting annoyed, no sorry, he was annoyed. Dumbledore had written to him again asking about Weasley and Nicholas. Dumbledore was sending owls almost daily asking for updates. Weasley barely wrote to Dumbledore and he wanted to know how things were going at Hogwarts. Dumbledore wasn't very happy that Weasley was staying with Professor Nunas and his family. 

"Another one?" 

Breakfast was an early affair in the Dark Lord's house. Everyone was an early riser and it had become a pattern over the years. Contrary to the Malfoy household. Getting anyone out of bed before nine was considered a dangerous mission. Severus lifted his head from his letter. He handed the letter to Voldemort as he sat down. "Yes, my Prince. It appears I'm not doing enough to get you and Weasley close. He wants me to offer to tutor Weasley in potions."

"Does he believe that is all you do? Potions?" Nicholas knew his father was going to have a plan. He really didn't like that Dumbledore knew so little about his spy. Severus was more than just potions.

"He believes that I spend hours brewing." Severus' hair wasn't the normal greasy flat hair that he wore at Hogwarts. The flame retardant that he used for the potions fumes hid his real slightly curly, full, black hair. "When I attended Hogwarts I spent hours working on potions. It was a way for me to get my mastery done faster."

"Severus, in the letter, he says that he is concerned about Weasley residing with Nunas. Do you know why?"

"He wants me to go to you regarding the concerns and get you to remove Weasley from the household. He believes I will be an ideal guardian for the summer."

Nicholas snorted. "Sorry, I wasn't expecting Dumbledore to actually believe you are an ideal guardian. You would be more likely to cut him up into potion ingredients."

"I would be so inclined." Severus enjoyed his summers. Something he never thought would have been possible before Dumbledore went running to France. He spent his summers at Peverell Castle. He had his own state of the art potion lab and could brew what he wanted when he wanted without someone monitoring his potions. 

"I would suggest you write back what he wishes to hear while not taking up the offer of tutoring Weasley. He is going to keep writing daily no matter what your answer will be." Voldemort handed the letter back. "I can feel the magical residue left behind. Do you know what he coated the letter in?"

"I did save the list. He had a mild truth serum in the letter. I have already decided to allow him to continue in his belief that I wouldn't have noticed the compulsion." 

"Great, just six more weeks of letters by Dumbledore. What to look forward to each morning." Nicholas rolled his eyes as he picked up his cup of tea. 

_________________________________________________________

"Nicholas, why is Weasley coming over here with a female Weasley?" Draco was a bit concerned. He didn't trust Weasley. 

"No idea. I thought he went school shopping yesterday. It's why I selected today." They were sitting down in one of the outdoor cafes eating lunch. They had arrived about an hour ago. 

"I do believe he plans on introducing us." Blaise looked around and saw a few of their year mates. The ones they were friends with quickly filled the remaining three seats. "Mind readers."

"Thank you. I really didn't want to offer to have them join us." Nicholas knew it would have been polite but since the table was for six people and now filled he wouldn't have to issue the invitation. They had been waiting for Pansy, Theo, and Greg to join them. 

"You know it's going to be a train wreck." Draco quietly told Nicholas. 

Nicholas didn't voice his own opinion on the matter as the two Weasleys arrived but he did agree. The female Weasley was dressed in some tight muggle clothing. While the male's looked like it has been patched and repaired a few times. Nicholas knew the family wasn't well off and that didn't bother him but the way the two acted did.

The female was strutting down Diagon Alley as if expecting all eyes to be on her. The girl was pleasant looking but at eleven, she seemed to think she could command all the males of the species attention. She even looked like she had makeup on. Ron Weasley was dressed like a normal everyday wizard. A mix of muggle and wizarding clothing. Yes, there patches and a few spots that needed to be sewn but at least he looked respectable. "Hello, I wanted to introduce everyone to my sister, Ginny. She is going to start Hogwarts in September." Weasley smiled at everyone. "Draco Malfoy, Theo Nott, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, Greg Crabbe, and Harry Potter." 

"Nicholas Peverell. I'm not Harry Potter. I wish you would respect my request to use my real name."

"Oh, I've read all about you. My parents, Headmaster Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall have told me all about your parents. The stories are amazing." Ginny Weasley leaned close to Nicholas. "I would love to tell you about your parents."

"My father has never denied me knowledge of my birth parents. Do you realize those books are fiction? I never saved anyone, never went on those mystical travels, or even been to China?" Nicholas wondered what mushrooms people in Dumbledore's organization were smoking.

"Remus and Sirius told me tales about your parents when they were at Hogwarts. Sirius is your godfather." Ginny sat on the arm of Nicholas' chair. "They were called the Marauders."

"Yes, I'm aware." Nicholas looked at his friends who were confused by the girl's behavior. 

"Uncle Severus told us all about them." Draco's snide comment caused Ginny to scowl but Ron looked saddened by the comment. As a victim of his twin brothers' pranks, he knew what Severus had endured and the twins were kinder than the Marauders. 

"As if a Malfoy could know about anything about the Potters or even a good light family." Ginny wore a face of disgust. "Your family is full of dark followers. You even follow You-Know-Who." 

"No, who?" Nicholas arched a brow. He looked at Weasley, who had his eyes closed in horror as he shook his head. 

"Ginny, I warned you." Ron tried to pull his sister away. "It's not like that here."

The group of Slytherins found that interesting. "You know who I'm speaking about. I'm not sure who is playing You-Know-You but he isn't and he isn't your family."

"I think it's time to leave. Weasley, perhaps you should take your sister home before she says something she will truly regret. I'm also sure Professor Nunas would be interested in hearing about this."

"I'm not staying with Professor Nunas. I'm staying with my aunt and cousins where Ron should have stayed." Ginny turned to her brother giving him a questioning look. "They would have taken you in."

"Ginny this isn't the time nor the place. Neither was the conversation you just had with Nicholas." Weasley faced the group of Slytherins. "I do apologize. I wasn't expecting her to say those things. I'll take her home. We were here just to get some treats, spend some time together as a way to get out of the house."

"Apology accepted." Nicholas inclined his head. "We need to finish our school shopping." 

"We can accompany you. You can show me around Diagon Alley." Ginny slithered onto Nicholas' lap. 

Nicholas lost his Slytherin mask. He wasn't expecting the girl to actually sit on him. He did the only thing he could think of he pushed his chair back and sent her to the ground. "I do believe it's time for us to leave. Have a pleasant day, Weasley." 

Nicholas turned and headed for the Leaky Cauldron. He would owl order what he needed. He knew his friends weren't far behind him. He wanted to get home and talk to his father. He hoped there was a way to keep the psycho girl away from him. He had never seen an eleven-year-old do something like that. Honestly, he had never seen anyone do it. He also wanted a shower. He could still smell the flowery perfume the girl wore. It was strong enough to choke a horse but he didn't think it would linger on his clothes. He was wrong. 

"That girl has listened to Dumbledore for too long." Theo turned his head and could see Weasley was trying to give the girl a lecture but she from the volume of the girl's voice she was to busy yelling about being dumped onto the ground. 

"She is going to be an issue. I thought one Weasley was bad but she makes Weasley seem normal." Pansy knew the girl was going to be very surprised when she attended Hogwarts. The girl's attitude was going to cause her a lot of problems. "What was up with the whole Potter family thing?"

"According to my father, it's about trying to get Nicholas to be Harry Potter and follow Dumbledore. Dumbledore had kept the whole lie about what happened at the Potter house going for years. He has been telling people that Headmaster Peverell isn't really the Dark Lord and that Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord." Draco had finally read the Harry Potter books over the summer. "The books are a great piece of fiction. I have the series if you want to read them."

"I would. It would be nice to know what those two are referencing. What I don't get is why do they think the Dark Lord is hiding. The man hasn't kept his identity a secret." Blaise and his family were one of the few families who thought that man would have. 

"I agree. Perhaps we can get another set of the series and get everyone to read them. I will see if Nicholas will let me borrow his copies." Theo knew the books were sold in England but they were just like any other book. Nothing very special about them.


	7. Chapter 7

Severus could hear laughter and it sounded like giggling. He headed toward the green salon to discover it was filled with some of his snakes, all reading from books. "What are you reading?" 

All of the visitors were longtime friends of Nicholas'. They were a few older, a few younger. The younger were the siblings of the older students. Most were from Slytherin but several, like Susan Bones, were from other houses. Many had parents that worked in the Ministry. Some were pure-bloods and some were half-bloods. 

"We went to the bookstore to buy some of the old Harry Potter stories. We discovered a new book based on Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts." Nicholas held up the book. "Its an original example of fiction. It really shows how confused Dumbledore is." 

Nicholas had owl ordered his school supplies. Today had already been arranged before yesterdays' public display. Once a month before Hogwarts and during holidays, the group got together to celebrate anyone who had a birthday in that month. It usually wasn't anything exciting but just something they had done since their parents set up times for their kids to play when they younger. The parents got tired of having all the kids parties and decided to have a big one each month. The families held their own family and close friends parties still.

"What?" Severus moved into the room. He had been on his way to get some lunch but the laughter had attracted his attention. 

Theo handed him an unopened copy from a small pile on the floor. "We bought a copy for each of those in Slytherin. We figured we would need a refresher on Harry Potter after yesterday's public display." They had originally wanted just the basic series. Pansy, Theo, and Draco had been surprised to see a new book being advertised when they reached the fiction section.

"Indeed." Severus took a seat and started to read it. After twenty pages a small laugh escaped from him. The first five pages had Harry Potter living with relatives and sleeping under the stairs. After a very brief recap of how Harry's parents had been savagely killed by the Dark Lord.

Nicholas peeked at where he was at in the book. The page had a small picture of Harry Potter and Hagrid. "It gets funnier." 

Severus looked at Nicholas. "What is written here destroys all the other books." Severus flipped the book over to read the back of the book jacket. He arched a brow as he saw his answer. The author was claiming the other books were all unauthorized tales by other authors who never spoke to the actually Harry Potter. He wondered how Dumbledore was going to explain having never spoken to Harry Potter as he saw the author was Dumbledore under a fake name. "It's Dumbledore on the back of the book jacket."

Severus watched them turn and look at the picture of Dumbledore. Dumbledore was wearing hideous robes and matching hat. His beard was tucked into his belt. Dumbledore didn't look any different than when he was Hogwarts' Headmaster. However, someone who knew clothes would be able to see the quality had declined compared to the robes Dumbledore used to wear. Dumbledore just covered it up with louder and bolder robes. 

"Really?" Pansy looked horrified at the way Dumbledore was dressed.

"Yes. He always opened every conversation with asking if you wanted a lemon drop." Severus watched the group look at him as if he grew a third head. "You know the stories." 

"True but really lemon drops?" Susan was going to ask her aunt. Surely, Professor Snape was telling a tall tale about the former headmaster. She glanced at Nicholas who looked used to the idea. Maybe, he wasn't telling a tall tale.

"Yes, very true. His passwords were always candies, too." Severus spent the next few minutes telling them about the weird things that Dumbledore did as Headmaster. 

The group spent the afternoon laughing at the book until the Dark Lord stood in the doorway wondering why everyone was laughing. "I could hear you when I came down to get some letters from my office." The Dark Lord wasn't expecting all the children still present in his home. Nicholas only hosted once a year and he spent that day up in his private library working instead of in his office. 

"Dad, you aren't going to believe what we are reading." Nicholas picked up one of the unopened books. He flipped it to the back of the book. 

"Dumbledore wrote another book?" The Dark Lord took the book looking at the picture of Dumbledore. He wondered what the old fool was going to produce as a form of literature.

"Worse, he wrote another Harry Potter book." Nicholas watched for the signs of his father's anger. It appeared. Nicholas saw the eyebrows pull down together, the upper eyelids raise a bit, the lips formed a rectangle as they became thinner. "It's actually really funny." 

"It is, my Lord, it's a highly interesting tale of Harry Potter's first year at Hogwarts." Severus arched a brow. He saw the instant the Dark Lord recognized what he was saying as the anger disappeared and the Dark Lord arched an eyebrow. 

One of the younger children got up. "You can have my seat." 

"Thank you, Humphrey." The Dark Lord sat down.

"You're welcome, sir." 

The children went home for the night with their own copies of the books. The remaining four, Draco was spending the night, ended up eating soup and salad for dinner in the green salon. They spent the night laughing as they read their books. 

Severus closed the book. He looked at Draco and Nicholas sleeping in the chairs. "Well, now I know why Dumbledore had so many questions. Between what I wrote him and what Weasley wrote, I believe it all made it into the book, with his own use some liberal fabrication."

"I agree. I wonder how he was able to get it even published." The Dark Lord looked at the two sleeping boys. "I better wake them and all of us go to bed." He glanced at the grandfather clock in the room. It was almost two AM. "If anyone had ever told me I would get such enjoyment by anything written by Dumbledore, I would have them checked into the Janus Thackery Unit." 

_____________________________________________ 

The Dark Lord arrived back from the Ministry. He knew Draco was already home so he headed down to the potion lab. He knew his son and Severus would be done there working on that vampire potion. He knocked on the door and waited for the caution light to indicate it was safe for him to enter. 

He entered the room. It took up half of the dungeon, the rest of the dungeon was used for potion ingredients storage. Peverell Castle was an ideal place for potions. The gallery had portraits full of potion masters that were in the Peverell family. The Peverell line was a line from Salazar Slytherin. The Dark Lord could see several potions were brewing. Severus had a list in front of him with some crossed off. Nicholas was cutting up ingredients.

"My Lord." Severus tilted his head in respect.

"Hi, Dad." Nicholas didn't even look at the little manual alarm clock on the table. "Are we late or are you home early?"

"I'm early. I got surprise visitors to my office today." The Dark Lord looked at his son's potion notes. He read down the list. "I see it failed?" 

"Yes, it did. I believe we need to adjust the amount of Aconite Fluid as well as add some Rose Oil." Severus had already written down the next adjustments they were going to make.

"I see." The Dark Lord didn't hide his smirk. They had been working on the potion for two years. Granted, it wasn't full time but he was impressed by his son's determination. He sat down on one of the stools. He was proud of his son. 

"Who was the visitor?" Nicholas laid down his knife. He figured if his father as visiting them it had to be important. His father could brew but preferred not too. "First, how was your day? We had a great day except for the potion not working. We got all by three potions finished for the store, Poppy, and St. Mungos."

"What a productive day. My day was fine, thank you for asking." The Dark Lord looked at potion closes to Severus. He recognized it as an invisibility potion that Severus invented. He knew Severus must have shown Nicholas how it was brewed. "Yes, I got a visit from Muriel Weasley with her great-grandniece Ginevra Weasley."

"Really?" Nicholas never wanted to see Ginevra Weasley ever again. 

"Yes. Muriel heard about what happened in Diagon Alley from Mr. Weasley. According to Muriel, Ronald was embarrassed even has he was providing her with the details. When the pair arrived back at Muriel's, Ginevra started to upstairs to change reminding Ronald how the old bitty gives her a lecture about how she was dressed. Muriel heard the whole thing and was about to make her appearance known when Ronald said he wanted to give her one on how she was dressed and her behavior. She entered the room as Ginevra started screaming at her brother. Ronald left before she could discover what happened as Ronald disappeared as she sent Ginevra to her room. It wasn't until the next day when she got a few floo calls concerning the event. She summoned Ronald. Ronald provided her with what happened in the alley and explained he should have prevented his sister from leaving the house dressed as she was. She apologized for the delay in approaching me for a formal apology. She wanted to apology yesterday but she was prevented." Muriel only kept her floo open for incoming calls during set times. She didn't want anyone bothering her at night.

"Dumbledore." Severus wondered what the man did now. 

"Yes, exactly. Muriel was about to leave when Dumbledore and the Weasleys floo called her. The summary of it was that Molly wasn't happy with Muriel rebuking her daughter. Arthur was shocked when he learned what his daughter done."

"Dumbledore gave his it's a slight misunderstanding?"

"Yes. Muriel disconnected her floo as he was speaking." The Dark Lord had known Muriel since he started at Hogwarts. She had been one of his professors. She retired the year Dumbledore became headmaster."

"Miss Weasley?" Severus was wondering what Dumbledore had been planning on doing. Dumbledore should have spoken to Molly regarding how her daughter had dressed and sitting on Nicholas lap. The girl wasn't even eleven. He shuddered to think of what the girl would do when she turned thirteen or so.

"A letter of apology to Nicholas." The Dark Lord saw his son sag a bit in relief. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. I never want to see that girl again."


	8. Chapter 8

Nicholas opened his mail as was the norm after breakfast. He read the letter and turned it over. "Dad, I think someone forgot to tell Ginny Weasley what a letter of apology was." He handed the letter to his father. 

The Dark Lord read the letter. He handed it to Severus. Severus read it, laid it down and looked at it again. The writing was a mess. The lines weren't even remotely straight and the ink was smudged. The letter had three lines to it. I'm sorry I sat on you. If I had known it was a big deal, I wouldn't have. I can't wait to see you at Hogwarts. There was a heart, or so he thought, and then the name Ginny. "That is a heart?"

"I thought so but who can tell with her writing." The Dark Lord knew Muriel never saw the letter. Muriel would have never permitted it to leave her house. 

"She won't pass anyone's review of her assignments. Itching for the red ink, Severus?" Nicholas had been watching Severus since he read the letter.

Severus picked the letter up. "Yes. I don't think I've seen a muggle-born with such bad handwriting."

"We are going to have to watch that girl. She is going to cause a lot of issues. I fear she is worse than her brother was." The Dark Lord wondered how Dumbledore expected either of the Weasley children to accomplish his goals if they weren't even trained in the basics. 

Nicholas had a bad feeling that his father was correct. 

___________________________________________________________

The rest of the summer passed in its usual manner including the monthly day where Nicholas went off to Susan Bones' house for the monthly ritual of friends celebrating birthdays. The Dark Lord, Lucius, and Severus were getting ready for the incoming students while handling the newest issue that Dumbledore had decided to create. It had started last month and they hoped to end it today. One that they hadn't told Nicholas about. 

Dumbledore had decided to go to the ICW and claim that the Dark Lord had murdered Harry Potter. Apparently, Dumbledore had submitted guardianship papers for Harry Potter, which were rejected by magic as Harry Potter didn't exist any longer. Since Dumbledore couldn't locate Harry Potter, he claimed that the Dark Lord killed Harry Potter. The Dark Lord, via his barristers and Lucius, was able to provide proof that Harry Potter was alive, with a certified copy of Harry Potter's heir status. Dumbledore, in return, submitted a request for the guardianship of Harry Potter. The guardianship was rejected by Gringotts and the British Ministry since Harry Potter had been adopted. Dumbledore brought the case to the ICW claiming that Harry Potter was in danger and should be removed from the guardianship of the Dark Lord. 

The three were walking to the Ministry from the apparition spot when they spotted the ICW representatives and Dumbledore's barrister. Dumbledore had claimed he was in fear for his life if he entered the United Kingdom. The three ICW representatives were only here to check and make sure everything was legal regarding the adoption as Dumbledore claimed that the Dark Lord wouldn't willingly take in Harry Potter. 

"Another wasted day because of Dumbledore." Severus muttered under his breath as they approached the phone booth.

The Dark Lord had been reviewing his memories as he thought Dumbledore's barrister looked familiar. He stopped walking. "Lucius, Severus, I believe I know why the barrister requested to speak privately with Nicholas. The barrister isn't a barrister, it's Gawain Robards." There was no way he was going to allow anyone to speak to his son from Dumbledore's camp alone. He had members of the ICW over his house last night for dinner. They were able to see and speak to Nicholas without Nicholas being away of any issue. Of course, Dumbledore's barrister didn't know that the ICW representatives had been at the Dark Lord's home last night for dinner. The barrister was counting on Nicholas showing up today.

Lucius smiled. "We need to make a stop in the DoM unless Severus has some Veritaserum."

"I always do." Severus carried a full potion pouch with him at all times as well as an emergency back up healing one. 

___________________________________________

They arrived in courtroom six, it was the smallest courtroom in the Ministry. They discovered Augustus Rookwood was already speaking to the ICW Representatives as Gawain Robards was sitting down glaring at everyone. The three approached the group while Lucius cast a Silencing Charm. Severus stood between Lucius and Gawain Robards to block Lucius' casting. The Dark Lord stood where Gawain Robards could see his back. "We have an issue." 

"Gentlemen." The Dark Lord greeted them. After the greetings were finished, the Dark Lord looked at the ICW Representatives. "We have a bit of an issue as I believe you have been lied to." 

The three men were from different countries. The tallest of the trio came from France. He had dark blond hair, a bit overweight but not enough to really notice. He was clean shaven and his cheeks had a bit of a reddish hue to them. His name was Pierre Lague. The smallest of the men came from Germany. He was as round as he was short. His red nose a sign of his drinking habits. He had dark brown hair with a matching Kaiser mustache, perfumed and turned up at the ends. His name was Lukas Mueller. The last man was an American with strawberry blond hair who worked out as his muscles attested too. He was also clean shaven and bald. His name was Robert Hamilton.

"Oh?" Robert hadn't been in favor of coming on this farce. He thought the ICW should have been happy with the proof the boy was alive and adopted. 

"Yes, the barrister isn't a barrister but a member of Dumbledore's Order. His name is Gawain Robards. He used to be an Auror here before Dumbledore left. He never went to law school or a university." Lucius had pulled Gawain Robards' records from the DMLE before they entered the courtroom. The records were self-updating. He handed the records over to the French Representative. 

The three ICW Representatives all reviewed the file. Before they could speak, the Dark Lord handed them a scroll. "It shows any illegal port-keys in the Ministry. There is only one. It was logged as you entered the Ministry. When you checked your wands, it registered the port-key on Gawain Robards."

Robert let out a low curse. "It certainly explains his demand that he see Nicholas today." 

"Oui." 

"I knew Dumbledore had to have something sneaky planned." Lukas never trusted Dumbledore and that is why he wanted to be part of this. He wanted to nail Dumbledore. He was sick of Dumbledore and his trivial issues and involving the ICW each time. 

"How do we want to play this?" Robert hoped they could have some fun with it. He was surprised that no one looked at Gawain Robards. 

"I say we let him hang himself and Dumbledore." The Dark Lord hoped they would be able to get enough to finish Dumbledore attempts at interfering with him, his son, and Hogwarts. He would love it if they could put a stop to Dumbledore going to the ICW and other sources with his false claims. 

Everyone agreed and Lucius removed the Silencing Charm. Everyone settled into the appropriate seats. The three ICW Representatives took the long table facing Gawain Robards and the Dark Lord. Augustus Rookwood took the position that Madam Bones sat in as he would be acting as the Minister, recorder of events, and reference for policy in the UK.

Before they could begin, Gawain Robards rose from his seat. "Where is Harry Potter?" 

"As we cleared up before, Harry Potter was adopted by Headmaster Peverall and his name is Nicholas Peverell." Lukas was one of the ones who had reviewed all the paperwork and found nothing wrong with it. The goblins at Gringotts did an excellent job of record keeping as usual.

"He is to be here for me to speak with privately." 

"Actually, we have several questions we would like answered before we proceed." Pierre had the information from Lucius and the Dark Lord in front of him. 

"Fine, fine, ask away. I would like to get home in time for dinner." 

"We are wondering what legal precedent you are using in order to show this adoption is illegal?" Pierre noticed that the Dark Lord had done a blood adoption and there was no law that would make it invalid. He glanced down at his two fellow representatives and pointed out the small print on the adoption form. Something that wasn't submitted to them in the filings that Dumbledore had obtained. 

"Adopted? When was he adopted?" Gawain Robards stood up. "I demand to know who has him and why wasn't he presented to the ICW and Albus Dumbledore before he was adopted. This is an attempted to keep Harry Potter hidden if he isn't in direct danger at the present time." 

The Dark Lord, Lucius, Severus, and Augustus Rookwood realized that Dumbledore had been hiding information from his people again. They knew that Weasley had written home and informed them that Harry Potter was Nicholas Peverell. Weasley still didn't believe that the Dark Lord and the Headmaster were the same people. The Dark Lord knew that Severus never informed the man of anything unless it was useless. 

"Mr. Robards, please answer the question?" No one missed the surprise that crossed the man's face as his real name was revealed. 

"He was adopted against his guardian's consent. Albus Dumbledore was to be Harry Potter's guardian."

"Why does Albus Dumbledore believe he is entitled to the guardianship of a student in the UK when he resides in Paris?" Pierre wondered what they were going to get for an answer. 

"It was stated in Lord and Lady Potter's Wills that Albus Dumbledore was to gain guardianship of Harry Potter." The man's tone held a "got you there" attitude.

Pierre picked up the certified copies of the Potters' will. "According to this, guardianship of Harry Potter after his parents demise was Alice and Frank Longbottom, followed by Sirius Black, Minerva McGonagall, and last is Severus Snape." He laid will down and picked up the adoption paperwork. "According to the information we have, Harry Potter was left on the doorsteps of his muggle aunt and uncle on the night of the 31st of October. Six weeks later, a letter arrived at the Ministry from the Dursleys demanding someone come and remove Harry Potter as he wasn't wanted. Two weeks later, he was was adopted by Tom Perevell." 

Augustus stood up and handed the copies to Gawain Robards. "It's all there. You will also note it's a blood adoption, so there is no way to void it." 

They watched and waited as the former Auror read the information. "He really dumped him off at night and didn't tell them?" He read the formal statement by the Dursleys. "Why wasn't this ever known?"

"It was. Rita did a lovely series of articles about it." Lucius glanced at Pierre and he had a feeling this was going to make the newspapers in the other countries. 

"Since there isn't a legal reason for Albus Dumbledore to be granted guardianship of Harry Potter also known as Nicholas Peverell, we are closing this case, permanently. Albus Dumbledore will be informed of this decision and the fact that there is no recourse for future involvement by the ICW or any other government. We will also make a notion of the illegal port-key on Mr. Gowain Robards and the desire to speak to Nicholas Peverell alone. Since the port-key wasn't used, we won't issue a fine or have you charged for the illegal port-key or make mention of our believe you were going to attempt to kidnap Nicholas Peverell. I'm sure we can find some Veritaserum since Potion Master Severus Snape is present if we need to prove the truth of our opinion." Lukas stared straight at Gawain Robards as if daring him to test them.

"No, I'm fine with your decision." 

"Excellent. I'm sure you will share the information with all of your acquaintances and Mr. Dumbledore." Robert was going to see if he could get it published in a few papers. "Now, I believe this closes any issues that have arisen?" At his two fellow representatives nods of agreement, he declared the session closed. "Mr. Robards, I would expect you to go directly to your hotel or home."

"I'm heading home." The man heaved a heavy sigh. "Dumbledore isn't going to give up. He will go the illegal route now. I honestly didn't know any of this and I fear many others don't that are following him. I have a feeling that no matter what evidence I show, he will spin to be the fault of a corrupt Ministry." He normally wouldn't have said anything but no one liked to be used and he fell into that category. He also didn't like being lied to for the last decade. He also knew Minerva was going to be very surprised to realize she was the one who should have had custody of Harry. Dumbledore had to have known as he had seen where Gringotts made a note that the will was sealed by Dumbledore on the 1st of November.

"We appreciate the warning." The Dark Lord was going to double check all the protection jewelry his son wore. He was also going to renew all the parsel protection on his son. 

After Gawain Robards left, the group discussed the current events involving the ICW and any interesting rumor they had heard during the last ICW meeting regarding what Dumbledore might attempt to do. Pierre mentioned that the Weasley family was denied entrance to Hogwarts and how Dumbledore was rallying people around that cause. Lucius and the Dark Lord were thankful they kept detailed records with everything having numerous witnesses signing off on everything. They were able to produce it and show how the rejection letters from the older Weasleys but that the two youngest were enrolled. 

The Dark Lord was thankful to be home until he saw his son and a few of the house-elves facing off with an unknown house-elf. His son was surrounded by their own house-elves while the unknown house-elf tried to leave but bounced inside the wards. He had to admire the paranoia of his relatives. He stunned the house-elf.

"Thanks, Dad. That flakey elf arrived, claiming you were hurt and he needed to take me to you." 

There wasn't anything to identify the elf. "I was at the Ministry." He went to the floo and called the Aurors and reported strange house-elf who tried to kidnap his son.


End file.
